Miguel L's profile

2004 Guigal - Cote-Rotie La Mouline
My goodness these are such incredible wines. 7 years young, it's so complex and deep, tempting you to wait but forcing you to open and enjoy on truly special occasions. Smoked beef, peppered bacon, resin. Like a bacon-wrapped, smoked bone-in ribeye in a glass. Ridiculous. Love this wine. Not yet as profound as the 1995, I hope to find the patience to see this one into a 12 year maturity, at least. I have not had one of the truly heralded vintages of this wine, but they don't really need to be better than this (or cost 3x as much) to enjoy so completely. Would love to compare this to a Grange.

2001 Bourgneuf (Vayron)
Auction bottle, held 2 years. Decanted and aerated for 1 hour. Sturdy and building over the night. Dark ruby, red rim. Bright, gamey and leathery nose. Substantial, old world red, built for the long haul, indifferent to modern conventions. Firm, taut and with depth. The vineyard is 85% Merlot and 15% Cb Franc. Great Pomerol value, and a good year for Right Bank.

1999 Beaurenard - Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Boisrenard (Reserve)
Vinfolio purchase. Better than expected. Bought from retail, held 2 years. Youthful color and over 2+ hours it held form and improved. Served with cedar-plank salmon with a strong herb/spice rub and it matched up. The 2nd hour it is mouth-watering and gaining complexity on the nose. 14% alcohol is heady but the wine is taut, leathery, with briar-patch and small, wild, tart red raspberries. Worth the buy-and-hold price of $45 in 2009, and with plenty of runway into 2015+.

2005 Leoville Las Cases
In Bordeaux, '05 vintage is a world unto itself (for now, until the 09 and 10's are bottled). As beautiful as many wines are in other vintages, pull the 05, and if it is not closed, it will share a nose that is a pure expression of vinous possibility. By no means ready to drink, this 05 LLC is nonetheless an amazing bottle. Here is what it is not: Pitch black, thick, hot or an unctuous creamsicle. For now, aside from the perfect red and black fruit, cedar and cigar box notes and tannic finish expected in a great young St Julien, it is showing medium-full, elegant, and very very long. And that's just the first 15 minutes. Will decant and check back on this bottle in 3 hours. The rest will stay in slumber for years, and contend for the Lion's throne in 2020, with the '00, the '09, and, just guessing here, the newbie '10.

2004 Canon la Gaffeliere
Auction bottle. Perfect cork. Decanter 90 minutes. Nice depth of black plum and cool menthol nose. Not completely integrated, a little edgy mid palate, redder fruit and oak still working out their relationship. But keep going back for the lovely aromas and nice lifted finish. Nice wine, still primary, as expected for 2004. '01 was better 7 years on. The 2008 is or will be better still.